New Albany is a state of mind … but whose? Since 2004, we’ve been observing the contemporary scene in this slowly awakening old river town. If it’s true that a pre-digital stopped clock is right twice a day, when will New Albany learn to tell time?

Saturday, December 01, 2012

How sweet it is: Sour grapes and fluffery from St. Daniels.

I never doubted that Barack Obama would win, but at no time did I ever foresee the sheer entertainment value afforded us during the weeks since.

Tony Bennett had wheelbarrows of out-of-state cash, and yet lost his re-election bid to an under-funded opponent whose advisors evidently read "Moneyball" and profited from the lessons therein.

Thus, these crazed sour grapes from the departing Colossus of the Prairie, uttered at a circle jerk of a symposium devoted to Republicans giving screw-the-people awards to each other. Attendees listened as Mitch Daniels began babbling about reaction, never realizing he was looking in the mirror of the men's room, reminding us that when it comes to fluffing, it's all about location, location, location.

Bennett lost neither because teachers used school time to undermine him, nor owing to voters suddenly becoming dispassionate analysts of impenetrable school "reform" information. He lost because of his day in, day out demeanor. Bennett cannot read a lawnmower instruction manual aloud without coming across as pompous, arrogant and a good deal snarky, rather in the fashion of his fellow GOP loser, Richard Mourdock, although Mourdock always seemed less arrogant than entirely detached from daily reality, like that guy at the end of the bar who's off his prescriptions but firmly on the gin.

“Despite the great progress that's been made in states like ours, the forces of reaction never quit,” Daniels said. “The last twitch of the dinosaur's tail can still kill you and that's what happened.”

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How will we know that downtown revitalization is succeeding?

Downtown businessmen don't have to be told that racism is unacceptable.

Downtown coffee shops have enough business to be open evenings and weekends.